Saturday, February 15, 2014

The underground correspondent we keep on retainer in an Atlantic seaboard city that knows how to keep its secretes, Guy Noir - Private Eye, wired me with a message that arrived by courier a few days ago with a reference to the following linked article and the following words:

This is what happens when you have "religion" versus "conversion," and try to play church for unconverted people and timid leaders. Our "longings" versus our "realities" ...

I would say "Guffaw," but this is the new official thinking in layman's terms. Our old ideas are simply that, and don't work anymore. Being nice is the Way of Jesus, apparently. I see the African-American church already taking this way. It is a joke. Culture becomes the far more powerful player across the Board.

... Francis spoke of his experiences in Latin America, where the situation of marriage and the family was, to a certain extent, “far more dramatic” than in Europe, Schönborn said. It is important to realize that today many couples live together without getting married and have children, then later marry in a registry office, with some opting for a church marriage, the pope explained. The church must take this way of life seriously and accompany the couples on their way, Francis underlined. His basic message was “Don’t judge, but look closely and listen very carefully,” Schönborn said.

In several interviews shortly before leaving Vienna, Schönborn advocated a more rational, down-to-earth approach toward family relationships. “For the most part, the church approaches the [family] issue unhistorically,” he said. “People have always lived together in various ways. And today, we in the church tacitly live with the fact that the majority of our young people, including those with close ties to the Catholic church, quite naturally live together. The simple fact is that the environment has changed.“

Schönborn “in no way” wanted to advocate changing canon law ["Far be it from meeee!"] but merely to show how difficult it was to bring the ideal family model into line with reality. “The decisive point is not to condemn the way most people actually live together, but to ask, ‘How do we cope with failure?’” he said.

While most people’s “wishes, hopes and longings often largely correspond to what the Bible and the church say about marriage and the family” and they longed for a successful relationship and a successful family life, real life told a different story, the cardinal said. “The great challenge is to span a bridge between what we long for and what we succeed in achieving.” It was a case of bringing truth and mercy together, he said.

Schönborn said he regretted that the Austrian bishops haven’t dared to speak out openly on necessary church reforms in the past. They haven’t had the courage [nor humility, nor ambition, might I add!] to address the need for greater decentralization and to strengthen local churches’ responsibilities, he said. “We were far too hesitant. I beat my own breast here. We certainly lacked the courage to speak out openly.”

The Austrian bishops also discussed with the pope the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, which has called for the ordination of married men and women, and their “Call to Disobedience,” Schönborn said. The pope advised them that the most important thing for bishops is always to be in close contact with their priests, the cardinal said.

Schönborn said he was convinced that far-reaching church reform was on the way, “but it will not be achieved through big words and programs but through people like Pope Francis.” One could already see that the pope has become a role model, Schönborn said. “The atmosphere is changing and his behavior is making itself felt,” he said.

And why has it never worked to mute Church teachings to make people feel welcome? Here is an answer from observations of what's happening in the Church of England. And, nonetheless, we will have this same experiment conducted again and again in the Catholic Church itself. Is anyone holding his breath? I'm not.